Flyers for use in connection with spinning machines



Nov. 26, 1957 5. MEYER-BUSCHE 2,814,177

FLYERS FORUSE IN CONNECTION WITH SPINNING MACHINES Filed July 51, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 x INVENTUR 65/97 fla /4a?- 3mm;

Nov. 26, 1957 a. MEYER-BUSCHE 2,314,177

FLYERS FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH SPINNING MACHINES Filed July 31,- 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 zzr 1/2 Nov. 26, 1957 G. MEYER-BUSCHE 2,814,177 FLYERS FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH SPINNING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 31, 1956 United States Patent FLYERS FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH SPINNING MACHINES Gert Meyer-Busche, Munich, Germany Application July 31, 1956, Serial No. 601,286

Claims priority, application Germany August 4, 1955 3 Claims. (Cl. 57-117 This invention relates to flyers for use in connection with winding thread on bobbins of spinning machines.

More particularly, the invention relates to flyers of this type each of which is provided with a bell-shaped hood having a curved or grooved portion located symmetrically about the axis of rotation of the flyer and constituting an inlet or entrance passageway for the thread, the hood being further provided with a lateral thread guide channel and with a spring finger biased resiliently against the bobbin and constructed to be latched in its outer position.

Prior to the present invention, the curved flyers forged or cast from steel and provided with a hollow threadguiding arm, with a solid arm serving as a mass balancing element, and with a spring finger carrying a rod-like counterweight, were very unsatisfactory from the standpoints of streamlining, dynamic characteristics and efficacy during spinning operations. The flyer in conjunction with the spring finger and its counterweight generally brought about unpleasant formation of lint and whirling thereof,- effects which are disadvantageous hygienically and not conducive to good spinning technique.

Furthermore, the high specific gravity of the materials usually employed in manufacturing flyers and the shapes of the known flyers were also very disadvantageous since the power input for driving the masses involved required a great mechanically and economically undesirable expenditure of energy, as did the control of unbalance and oscillation problems with respect to both the flyer and the entire machine. Even further, the heretofore known constructions of this type and the materials employed for manufacturing the same suffered from the great disad vantage that a dynamically unsatisfactory course of the path of thread movement and mechanical unevennesses of the thread guide would frequently and due to faulty drawing and tearing of the threads have harmful effects on the product to be formed by the spinning operation.

Attempts were made to overcome these defects through the use of bell-shaped flyers having either a free swinging thread course at the outer or inner wall of the hell or having a closed thread channel in the wall of the bell, or by placing a smooth cylindrical or otherwise suitably shaped shell onto a conventional flyer, if desired while dispensing with the use of the spring finger. Alternatively, different variations of the spring finger structure were tried, all of which, however, proved to be unsatisfactory from a dynamic standpointas well as from considerations of spinning technique. a g

In none of these-attempts were basic or far-reaching improvements in the spinning action and dynamic behavior of the flyer as well as in the mechanical expenditures and energy consumption of the spinning machine attained. a

An important object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide means conducive to the elimination of the;

above-mentioned deficiencies of known spinning machine flyers.

Anotherimportant object of the present invention is 2,814,177 Patented Nov. 26, 1957 "ice to provide means facilitating performance of spinning operations through the joint action of a plurality of constructional elements, some of which are known per se and some of which are novel, and in particular to create a-new flyer which is advantageous both in its operation and manipulation.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide means contributing to novel and highly efiicacious flyers which through improved streamlining, dynamic and spinning characteristics provide considerable advantages for the construction and operation of the machine as well as for the quality of the spun products.

In accordance with the invention, these objects are attained by virtue of the fact that the rotatable element made of synthetic plastic materials and connected to and extending downwardly from the bell-shaped hood of the flyer is constituted by two downwardly narrowing flyer arms provided with inwardly projecting wall reinforcements. The thread guide channel is located in one of the flyer arms, the outwardly leading opening of the channel intersecting the channel tangentially thereof.

In the same arm there is provided a bearing for the spring finger, the shaft of the finger supporting a helical spring which holds the finger in axial direction and counteracts any centrifugal forces arising. The flyer arm also has arranged therein a double-armed lever, the

lower. end of which can engage in and latch the finger and I as to besymmetric about its axis of rotation and with two downwardly narrowing arms arranges or distributes the masses of the flyer into zones which, during rotation, act in adyn'amically stabilizing manner and simultaneously through greatly enhanced resistance momenta guarantee the non-deformability of the flyer which would result from bending of the arms due to the effects of centrifugal forces.

Manufacture of a flyer according to the invention from synthetic plastic materials, such as polyamides, is both easy and economical. By virtue of the low specific gravity of the plastic material employed to manufacture the flyer of the invention, the various forces arising are considerably reduced, facilitating in an advantageous manner the control of strength, mass unbalance and oscillation problems of the flyer itself and of the machine as a whole.

The symmetrical shaping of the flyer and the arrangement of the thread guide channel in an enlarged reinforced wall of the flyer arm projecting only slightly into the interior of the bell, in conjunction with the possi bility of good rounding of edges and smoothing of the outer surface of a plastic flyer made, for example, by means of an injection molding process, bring about a better behavior of the fly in operation.

The creation and whirling about of lint is advantageously almost entirely eliminated. The tangential intersection of the outwardly leading opening with the thread guide channel ensures the moving thread against undesired displacement into said opening, which has the form of slot, and thus avoids breakage or tearing of the thread which is frequently caused by such displacement of the thread.

The heretofore known spring fingers, the rod-like counterweights of which generally grip the hollow arm in the manner of a claw, were, due to the great collection of lint and high degree of wear and tear resulting from large frictional forces arising at the bearing location, as unsatisfactory as the behavior of the finger resulting from the known reduction of the pressure exerted thereby during filling of the spool or bobbin.

A fault-free radial and axial guiding of the spring;

fingers in accordance with the invention thus turns out to be very advantageous. This is due to the fact that with a spring finger made of synthetic plastic material the greatly reduced forces can be counteractedby means of a helical spring acting, for example, as a torsion spring having suitable resilient characteristics and, if desired, employed in conjunction with a small counterweight in such a manner that the pressure exerted by the finger during the entire bobbin-winding operation can be maintained uniform, thus leading to a very homogeneous spool winding.

If desired, by means of rotation of a counter support forthe torsion spring it is possible to regulate the pretension of the spring-and thus the pressure exerted by the finger, which may be done in accordance with the particular operating conditions intended. A resilient axial suspension of the spring finger renders it possible'to bring about a damping action for the spring oscillations by a' suitable material provided at the axial sliding support locationof the spring finger.

The arrangement in the fiyer arm of the resiliently supported lever which serves to-hold the spring finger in the outermost end position of its swinging movement is advantageous from streamlining considerations and enables a secure and comfortable manipulation upon disengagingthesame after the bobbins have been exchanged.

These and other objects of the invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the'invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a fiyer constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a composite view showing at the left a side elevational view of the fiyer and at the right a vertical sectional view of the same taken along the line II'II in Fig.3;

Fig. 3 is asectional view taken along the line III--III in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the fiyer, showing also the spring finger associated therewith;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of that one of the arms of the fiyer having the thread guide channel incorporated therein, showing partly in section the spring finger including the bearing and locking or latching means for the same; and

Fig. 6 is a radial partly sectional view-of thebearing arrangement for the spring finger of the fiyer, the view being taken along the line VI-VI in Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a fiyer which is intended to rotate about an axis 1 coinciding with the axis A of a bobbin or spool is constructed symmetrically about the axis 1. To this end, the fiyer consists of a bell-shaped hood 2 from which extend two downwardly narrowing arms 3a and 3b provided with slightly bulging portions4' and 7 for reinforcing the arms.

In the reinforcing portion 4 there is arranged a thread guide channel 5 which opens outwardly through a slotlike or elongated opening 6 intersecting the channel tangentially of the latter (see Figs. 3 and 4). The reinforcing portion 7 serves as mass balancing means.

The bell-shaped hood 2 is provided with a curved or grooved portion 8 (Fig. 2) which facilitates guiding of the thread. A channel or trough 9 is arranged on the hood 2 and constitutes a thread guide portion located intermediate and establishing communication between the above-mentioned grooved portion 8 and the thread guide channel 5.

Associated withthe fiyer is a spring finger 10 (Fig: 4) which is mounted for-rotary or pivotal movement about an axis 14 and along an arc 13 from one to the other of its two end'positions shown in broken lines at 11 and 12. The spring finger -is provided with a nose 15 having a groove-like recess 16 into which the lower end 18a of a double-armed latching lever or detent 1 8 is engaged when the finger 10 reaches the end position 12 at the termination of the bobbin-winding operation.

As will be seen from Fig. 5, the thread-guiding fiyer arm 3a is provided with a narrow recess 17 in which the aforesaid double-armed lever 18 is pivotally arranged. The upper part 18b of the lever abuts against a spring 19 and is thus resiliently biased outwardly of the arm. Upon application of manual pressure to said upper lever part 18b, the lower end of the latter is disengaged from the groove 16 in the spring finger 10 so as to unlatch and release the same.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be seen that a bore 20 is formed in the expanded or bulging reinforcing portion 4 of the fiyer arm 3a. Arranged in the bore 20 is a radial bearing 21 for enabling rotation of the shaft 23 which is rigidly connected to the spring finger 10, and another bearing 22 serving as an abutment for the finger 10 so as to prevent upward displacement of the latter.

Arranged about the shaft 23 is a spring 24 functioning simultaneously as a compression spring and as a torsion spring, the spring being connected at one end to the bearing 21 and at the other end to the bearing 22. The spring 24'biases the finger 10 against the bearing 22 axially of the shaft 23 and exerts at the same time a turning moment or torque on the finger for counteracting or neutralizing any centrifugal forces which may arise, thereby ensuring uniformity of the pressure exerted by the finger on the bobbin.

Due to the friction between the spring finger 10 and the bearing 22 under thepressure of the spring 24, swinging movements of the spring are, of course, considerably damped, whereby erratic and undesired variations of the finger pressure are avoided.

Thus itwill be s'eenthat there has been provided, in accordance with the present invention, a fiyer for use in connection with the winding of thread onto a bobbin of a'spinning'rnachine'the fiyer basically comprising a bells'ha'ped hood having an axis 'of symmetry about which it may be rotated. Theh'ood is provided with a grooved neck portion located symmetrically with respect to the axis ofsymmetry, this grooved portion constituting an entrance passageway for the thread to be wound on the bobbin.

Extending downwardly from'the hood are two downwardly narrowing arms having bulging central reinforcing portions, both the hood and the arms being made of synthetic plastic materials having low specific gravity to reduce 'the adverse effects of momentum and inertia arising during rotationof the fiyer. A thread guide channel is "formed in the interior of the reinforcing portion of one of the arms, the channel communicating at one end with the grooved portion of the hood, and said one arm being provided with an opening coextensive with the channel and intersecting the latter substantially tangentially of the channel.

The aforesaid one arm of the hood is further provided with a bore in which is located through the intermediary of suitable bearing means a shaft supporting a spring finger engageable with the bobbin during the winding of thread thereonto. Spring means acting both as'a compression'spring and as a torsion spring act on the shaft to retain the same in the bore and to bias the spring finger in the direction of the bobbin, said one arm further carrying spring-biased lever means for releasably latching the spring finger in position when the bobbin has been fully wound with thread.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that such obvious changes'and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

'1. A fiyer for use in connection with'winding of thread onto a bobbin of a spinning machine, comprising a bell-- shaped hood having an axis of symmetry i about which: it

may be rotated and being provided with a grooved portion located symmetrically with respect to said axis and constituting an entrance passageway for said thread to be wound on said bobbin, two downwardly narrowing arms connected to and extending downwardly from said hood and having bulging central reinforcing portions, said hood and arms being made of synthetic plastic material having low specific gravity, one of said arms being provided with a thread guide channel in the interior of the respective reinforcing portion and being further provided with an opening coextensive with said channel and leading outwardly of said one arm, said opening intersecting said channel tangentially of the latter, a spring finger arranged to contact said bobbin during winding of thread thereonto, said one arm being provided with a bore, a shaft supporting said spring finger, bearing means for said shaft and arranged within said bore to facilitate rotation of said shaft about its own axis, a helical spring surrounding said shaft, said helical spring biasing said shaft axially of itself and inwardly of said bore to hold said spring finger against said one arm and further biasing said shaft so as to rotate in a direction tending to bring said spring finger into contact with said bobbin while simultaneously counteracting any centrifugal forces arising due to rotation of said hood and arms, a lever pivotally mounted on said one arm and having lower and upper lever arms, the lower lever arm being engageable with said spring finger to latch the same in position when said bobbin is fully wound with said thread, and a leaf spring engaging said one arm of said hood and said upper lever arm to resiliently bias the latter outwardly of said one arm for causing engagement between said lower lever arm and said spring finger, pressure applied to said upper lever arm in opposition to the biasing force of said leaf spring causing disengagement of said lower lever arm from said spring finger to enable said helical spring to return the latter to its first-named position in contact with another as yet unwound bobbin.

2. A flyer for use in connection with winding of thread onto a bobbin of a spinning machine, comprising a bellshaped hood having an axis of symmetry about which it may be rotated and being provided with a grooved portion located symmetrically with respect to said axis and constituting an entrance passageway for said thread to be wound on said bobbin, two arms connected to and extending downwardly from said hood, said arms narrowing in a direction away from said hood and having central reinforcing portions, one of said arms being provided with a thread guide channel in the interior of the respective reinforcing portion and being further provided with an opening coextensive with said channel and leading outwardly of said one arm, said opening intersecting said channel tangentially of the latter, a spring finger arranged to contact said bobbin during winding of thread thereonto, said one arm being provided with a bore, shaft means extending into said bore and supporting said spring finger, bearing means for said shaft means and arranged within said bore to facilitate rotation of said shaft means about the axis thereof, spring means biasing said shaft means axially and inwardly of said bore to hold said spring finger against said one arm and further biasing said shaft means so as to rotate in a direction tending to bring said spring finger into a position where it is in contact with said bobbin while simultaneously counteractng any centrifugal forces arising due to rotation of said hood and arms, lever means pivotally mounted on said one arm and having lower and upper lever arms, the lower lever arm being engageable with said spring finger to latch the same in position when said oobbin is fully wound with said thread, and resilient means engaging said one arm of said hood and said upper lever arm to bias the latter outwardly of said one arm for causing engagement between said lower lever arm and said spring finger, pressure applied to said upper lever arm in opposition to the biasing force of said resilient means causing disengagement of said lower lever arm from said spring finger to enable said spring means to return the latter to its first-named position in contact with another as yet unwound bobbin.

3. In a flyer for use in winding thread onto a bobbin of a spinning machine, said flyer including a bell-shaped hood having an axis of symmetry about which it may be rotated and being provided with a grooved neck portion located symmetrically with respect to said axis and constituting an entrance passageway for said thread to be wound on said bobbin, and a spring finger arranged to contact said bobbin during winding of thread thereonto; first and second downwardly narrowing arms connected to and extending downwardly from said hood and having bulging central reinforcing portions, said first arm constituting mass balancing means, said second arm being provided with a thread guide channel in the interior of the respective reinforcing portion and being further provided with an outwardly leading opening coextensive with said channel, said opening intersecting said channel tangentially of the latter, said second arm being provided with a bore, a shaft supporting said spring finger, bearing means for said shaft and arranged within said bore to permit rotation of said shaft about its own axis, helical spring means operatively connected to said shaft for biasing said shaft axially of itself and inwardly of said bore to thereby hold said spring finger against said second arm and for further biasing said shaft so as to rotate in a direction tending to bring said spring finger into a position in contact with said bobbin while simultaneously counteracting any centrifugal forces arising due to rotation of said hood and arms, a lever pivotally mounted on said second arm and having lower and upper lever arms, said lower lever arms being engageable with said spring finger to latch the same in position when said bobbin is fully wound with said thread, and leaf spring means operatively interconnected between said second arm of said hood and said upper lever arm to resiliently bias the latter outwardly of said second arm for causing engagement between said lower lever arm and said spring finger, pressure applied to said upper lever arm in opposition to the biasing force of said leaf spring means causing disengagement of said lower lever arm from said spring finger to enable said helical spring means to return the latter to its first-named position in contact with another as yet unwound bobbin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 57,065 Bailey Aug. 14, 1866 

